Del Mar Racetrack Uses Social Media to Draw In Racing Audience

Del Mar Racetrack in Southern California, America, known for its slogan “Where The Surf Meets The Turf” has become renowned not only for its horse-racing, but for its hip bars, eating experiences and concert line-ups. Since its official opening way back in 1937, as with a huge number of organisations, a decline in attendees and revenue has been noted in the last couple of years due to the economic climate.

In an effort to change its demise, the Del Mar Racetrack took to social media last year, and in doing so, has seen a rise of 4.2% in attendance numbers just this last season, with fans now being able to click onto a Facebook page, use Twitter to tweet and Foursquare to check into. Senior VP of Marketing at the Racetrack said, “That’s an increase of 27,000 bodies. In this economy, I’ve got to be honest, it was a little but surprising.”

When you look at the social media statistics, they appear to be pretty impressive with over 17,000 Facebook fans, over 4,000 Twitter followers, 101 YouTube videos and nearly 4,000 Foursquare check-ins. Added to this, when you look at what the benefits of social media have managed to achieve for its fans, some 965 tickets redeemed are just from Facebook give-aways and 10,900 new social media users during the 2010 season engaged with the racetrack.

To appeal to a more broader audience, the Racetrack has even appeared on TV hits such as “Entourage” and “The Bachelor,” as well as daily TV ads. On clicking onto Facebook’s dedicated page, you will be greeted with information on not just the jockeys and their horses, but forthcoming events and photos of celebrity figures, tours, give-aways and so on.

As well as the Racetrack reaping the benefits, location-based Foursquare has seen a vast improvement in what they hoping to achieve. As socialmediaexaminer.com reported, in just 7 weeks, 2,500 people checked in with a staggering 3,863 check-ins, therefore putting the Del Mar on the map.

To round up their findings, Del Mar Racetrack looked at what social media had managed to achieve for them. In fact some 10,900 new friends had been enlisted with the help of social media channels bringing the attendance figure to the 4.2% as mentioned above. This has only been achieved by re-marketing their brand, appealing to a wider audience, expressing their aim and objectives and regularly updating fans with information including freebies etc.

Are you a fan of Del Mar Racetrack? Tell us do you go there to just watch the horse-racing or do you use it as more of an entertainment hub? Which social media tool do you use to get your information?